Modesto data project to launch

February 28, 2017

Central Valley Business Journal

MODESTO — Modesto, get ready to learn a lot more about yourself.

The city has been selected to participate in Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Work Cities initiative, a national philanthropic effort to enhance the use of data in the public sector.

“They’re going to help us formulate what measures we should be measuring for our community,” said Deputy City Manager Joe Lopez. “They’re going to help us put it together and publish that information so that it’s useful for our community.”

The project will help the city organize and release more of the data it collects. Such information could include demographics, vacant properties, permit requests, arrest records or traffic stops.

Lopez said the first data to be released would likely focus on the city’s Great Safe Neighborhoods initiative.

Schools and universities, nonprofits, the business community, entrepreneurs, developers and others could use the information for their own projects.

The project will last six months with a possible expansion.

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